


Anatomy of the Heart

by herstorystartedhere



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Community: fs_exchange, F/M, Fitzsimmons Secret Valentine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-21 05:33:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6040144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herstorystartedhere/pseuds/herstorystartedhere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in post s3e10 territory, Fitzsimmons have been seeing each other in secret for a month now, successfully keeping their relationship hidden from the other team members. However, with Valentine's Day upon them, the struggle to keeping their romance a secret becomes increasingly harder...</p><p>for theskyefalls through the Valentine Exchange:)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Adrenaline, Dopamine, and Seratonin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theskyefalls (emmathecharming)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmathecharming/gifts).



“Fitz!”  
“Hey, that’s not any more subtle!” Fitz peered around the corner of the hallway, which was still quite bright for nearly midnight at the Playground. Simmons stood next to him with her back to the wall, looking as if she was trying to melt through it. The security cameras operated with a minute long gap every five minutes, which meant they had to move quickly, assuming their calculations were spot on—which meant they had 30 seconds since, of course, they WERE spot on. At exactly 12:15, they made a run for Simmons’ bunk, trying to discreetly but quickly close the door in the 5 seconds they had left after running. Simmons collapsed on the bed, breathing heavily from the adrenaline. He looked down at her pajama-clad figure. “Did you seriously just put all your energy into that? I mean, the entire point was to get here--”  
“I know, but it’s YOUR fault that you bunk next to Coulson anyways! Why did you have to have--”  
“An excellent window view? And for the record, I moved there to be closer to the lab and headquarters after Ward--”  
Simmons got up and shushed him. “Let’s not get into that,” she whispered eyes wide. He gazed into them, seeing her adoration and familiarity. All these years, and they could sometimes pretend that they were still at the Academy. She leaned in to kiss him softly. Almost everything was the same as the Academy. He closed his eyes and pulled her onto the bed, more an act of exhaustion than of anything more. Her nails, freshly trimmed so as to not rip her gloves in the lab, lightly scratched his scalp as her fingers wound into his curls. Why had it taken them so long?  
A lot of answers could satisfy that. First, it was the turmoil brought on by his brain injury at the bottom of the ocean. While he hadn’t fully recovered, he had found ways to get around the roadblock, and he had improved significantly once the real Simmons took over for the “temporary” one. Also, there was the obvious Monolith factor that left them literally a universe apart. And then Will came along and complicated things... Finally, they could be together, if it weren’t for one problem—the team.  
While dating wasn’t prohibited on base, and frankly Coulson would side with them rather than against, it created a complicated dynamic that didn’t need to be complicated. Bobbi and Hunter had been living examples of that, from requesting to get reassigned to wanting to be together again. Fitzsimmons had no reason to ever argue to the extent of needing separate bases, but the others would worry. Besides, secretive shenanigans had become more of their forte as of late, and isn’t it always a good idea to acquire some espionage while working for a secret organization? Simmons, snapping him back to reality, began delicately undoing his tie, which he had begun wearing again in an attempt to return to a pre-alien normalcy. He rather enjoyed Simmons’ determination to master the multitasking skill-set of passionately making out with him while undoing a tie, especially since Fitz had begun using more intricate knots for a sort of advanced hand therapy. Even so, she was quite excellent at this, though she could be considered quite excellent nearly everything. “Bloody hell,” she whispered, pulling away to focus on the knot. Nearly everything. Fitz chuckled at her struggle.  
“I’d assist you, but that one took me nearly ten minutes with one hand,” he laughed, resulting in her sigh of annoyance.  
“I swear, Fitz, it’s as if you are TRYING to make this as difficult for me as possible,” she scolded, “Isn’t the point of this to be enjoyable? For more than one of us?” He loosened the fabric gradually becoming more of a noose than a formality and slid the entire thing off, wrinkles be damned.  
“We’ll take care of that later,” he whispered, pulling her lips back to his. She wrinkled her nose at first but soon melted into his embrace. Without the tie, she could move her attention to kissing his neck and he could focus on her rather than his appreciation of her borderline adorable frustration. They laid down slowly, melting into each other. He felt so trusting in her, and the feelings were reciprocated as they eventually fell asleep in each other’s arms.  
*****  
The next morning came with little time for coziness, as Simmons woke up to the sound of knocking. “Fitz!” she hissed, shooing him off the bed and into her closet.  
“Miss Jemma Simmons,” a terribly accented voice called into the room. “Your assistance is needed...”  
“Daisy,” Simmons yawned,” you can come in.” She opened the door to Daisy standing in the hallway holding a tray of waffles. “Happy Valentines Day, girl” Simmons looked at the calendar on her wall, glanced down at her wrist (where her watch usually was), and the back at Daisy. Daisy’s favorite holiday, sure, but did Fitz and her completely forget about today?  
“Is it really today?”  
“Hell yeah it is!” Daisy marched in and put the tray down on her desk. “Someone had a rough night,” she commented, motioning towards the severely crumpled sheets. “Did you do Pilates in your sleep or something?” Simmons blushed and tried to discreetly kick Fitz’s tie under the bed.  
“Something like that.”  
Daisy shook her head. “In that case, I’ll let you sleep for a bit more. We can get Fitz to work on Coulson’s project in the meantime—”  
“No! I mean, no, I’ll be out soon. I just need a cold shower and I’ll be right as rain!” Simmons sputtered, secretly hoping that Daisy didn’t try Fitz’s room next. “Tell Coulson that we—that I will be out in an hour.” As an afterthought, she added, “I’ll text Fitz and get him to do the same. You know him, grumpy as ever in the mornings. An hour should be enough time to get him—ah, for him to get ready. On his own. Since he’s an adult and all, not a child that needs help—” A groan sounded from the closet, making Daisy’s eyebrows raise. “I need a shower.”  
“You do that,” Daisy said, more like a question than an answer. “Imma leave now.”  
Once the door gratefully closed, Fitz poked his head out from the closet. “Did I hear something about a shower?” Simmons sighed.  
“Seriously?” she shook her head. “Oh Fitz, that was bloody terrible! How are we going to keep this up?” He laughed, walking behind her to massage her shoulders.  
“I think that a nice shower would do you good,” he said into her ear. “I’ll stay out here and work on hacking that security camera so I can see who’s out there from here.” She leaned back into him, grateful that he was so, so Fitz. After turning around to kiss his cheek, she marched off to her bathroom.  
*****  
Clothed in nothing but her robe and a towel in her hair, Simmons stepped back into her room. Fitz was sitting on her bed, neatly made, and was diligently typing on her laptop. He appeared as to not have noticed that she was there. Using this to her advantage, she padded over as quietly as possible and kissed the top of his head, which hardly disturbed him. She kept going, pressing her lips to the side of his head, down his ear and jaw, and eventually he set the computer on her nightstand and turned around to face her. “Jemma,” he said, his voice wavering, “please tell me that you have clothes on under that robe and you’re just trying to rile me up?” She let the towel covering her hair slide to the ground.  
“Why on Earth would I do that?”  
“Because we are in uncharted territory and while I may be the model of a respectable boyfriend that lets you take your shower in peace, ALONE, I am still a man with desires.” She kissed him slowly, putting her hands on either side of his jaw.  
“Maybe I want to chart this territory,” she whispered, pressing her lips to his again. They stayed like this for a while, until Fitz stood up.  
“You need to get dressed, Simmons. Though if you really want to go there, I’m always willing to offer my help.” She got up from the bed too and nodded, feeling a little embarrassed. Aside from her brief time with Will, she hadn’t dated anyone since her early Sci-Ops days. It showed. Fitz went over to her closet and started going through it, selecting one of her favorite blouses and tossing it on the bed. “Besides,” he commented, “I too have an above-average fashion sense, don’t I?”  
“Fitz, half the time I pick out your clothes, and the other half of the time you just blindly grab a tie and button down.”  
“See? It’s like human nature to me,” he laughed, grabbing her black jeans and handing them to her. She shook her head and selected a lighter wash, looking to piss him off. Which ended up not working, because he reluctantly put back the black jeans and then went to her dresser to get her underthings.  
“I’m not even going to ask how you know where those are,” she laughed, turning her back to him to put them on. “I thought that out of any guy, you would be the one to NOT go snooping while I’m showering.”  
He shrugged. “Blind guess, believe it or not.” She turned to get her clothes from the bed and completely forgot that this was probably one of the first times that Fitz had seen her like this, all of this, during the day. He raised his eyebrows, turning a little red in the cheeks, and she shook her head.  
“Honestly Fitz, how many times have you spent the night here? It’s not like this is anything new,” she started. “I mean, it’s Valentine’s Day, which I guess means that we’ve been together for a month or so, and this was bound to happen at some point—”  
Fitz stopped her by giving her a quick peck on the cheek and walking into the bathroom, sweeping her towel off of the ground. “I’m going to take my shower,” he called, “you finish up out here.” She sputtered, hastily buttoning up her blouse and pulling on her jeans.  
“I’ll be in the kitchen,” she called through the closed bathroom door. “Please be subtle in your exit!”  
He opened the door a crack and smiled at her. “Trust me, I’ve got a way. See you in twenty.” With that, he disappeared into the steamy white fog smiling and she left for the kitchen.  
After a brief stop to brew two cups of chai, Simmons retreated to the lab to get started on Coulson’s “project”, though she couldn’t help thinking about how she was going to make today special for Fitz, her significant other. Obviously the façade of platonic friendship had to be up kept, so she put the tea at his desk and sat down at her own a good three paces away. Be casual, be casual she chanted in her head, doing everything in her power not to give herself away when he finally stepped through the door of the lab, red shirt and tie neatly pressed and tucked into jeans. “Good morning Fitz,” she called. He nodded and sat down at his desk, grabbing the teacup in front of him. Glancing at the lab assistants, she added “How was your evening?” He choked, setting the tea down and putting his head in his hands.  
“Just lovely,” he muttered through his fingers, the edges of his face turning scarlet. Carlie, the young scientist closest to him, slid a box of tissues over with a concerned look on her face. Simmons chuckled to herself. She reached into her desk, grabbing a piece of her stationary and a pen. This was going to be a fun day.  
*****  
Fitz was worried about tonight. He had kind of freaked seeing Jemma in just a bra, but that was normal right? It was going to happen eventually, but for her to just casually get dressed in his presence seemed foreign. He had seen her without a shirt, of course, but that was in a midnight, heat of the moment setting where he didn’t really see anything. As a “couple” on Valentine’s Day, he’d been assuming that they would be going there tonight. It just seemed to be a point of no return; that was a line that couldn’t be uncrossed. Unlike his partner, he had known what day it was this morning, and he had spent the morning in her room, preparing it for tonight. He had already made some calls and put a “scientific convention” on the books about two months ago, requesting a car and even a false license in case Hydra was out and about in freaking Massachusetts in February. No one would suspect romantic plans, just two colleagues going out to a scientific convention to bounce ideas off other great minds for their current projects.  
Simmons seemed to be testing his secrecy skills as well as his self-restraint. He noted that she had fastened one less button than usual, though no one would really notice except for him. She was wearing light blue, as he had picked out this morning, and the rest of her seemed to be put together as usual. It was as if she could pretend that they really were just best friends again, much to the relief of the core team in the Playground. He decided that he would do everything in his power to keep their secret, simply for the thrill of it, at least for today. She deserved that at least.


	2. Testosterone and Estrogen

MEET ME IN THE CLOSET AT 12:45. ~ JS

Fitz honestly had no idea what else he had been expecting, but he was glad that Simmons took the leap on this one. It seemed only natural for them to be flirting on V-Day, but with the threat of overly involved coworkers, discreet yet forward messages were key. His watch read 12:40, and he looked over to see Simmons leave for the supply hanger in the left wing. He followed after exactly five minutes and thirty seconds and found her in the medicine walk-in, which was the only closet that locked due to the extensive collection of pharmaceuticals. Score one for Simmons. 

Speaking of whom, she was sitting on the step ladder reading her tablet. He swiped his key card to lock the small room, startling her as she set down her reading material and walked the two steps it took to be face to face with him. "Hey," she started, looking him in the eye and smiling. He lost it, going straight in for the kiss.

She met his enthusiasm and grabbed the back of his neck, holding his head down and firm to her own. Her other arm slid down the front of his chest, smoothing down his tie and shirt. He cupped her face with his hands and eventually curled his fingers into her hair, which she almost always wore down now. She bit his lip softly. They had gone to this point many times by now, and the motions were familiar, her skin as common place to him as the periodic table. He deepened the kiss, drawing her into his chest and reaching his hands to her back. She leaned into him, causing them both to stumble into a shelf that was thankfully locked behind glass and therefore undisturbed. He gently placed her onto the short step stool so she was a bit taller, and she responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. What was shockingly different about this newly found daytime shenanigans was how aware he was that he was kissing her, kissing Jemma Simmons, and that even though an engineering breakthrough sat at his work bench, he didn't want to be anywhere but here and now.   
He held her closer, the kisses gradually becoming slower and slower until she fell slack against him, barely standing up. He kissed her forehead and looked down into her eyes.

"Is that the kind of thing I can expect from now on? I wouldn't mind, you know." She smiled and then glimpsed at herself in the mirror. 

"Well don't we look worse for wear," she muttered, pulling away to inspect the state of her makeup and hairstyle. Impressively, she looked rather calm, save for her missing lipstick and wrinkled shirt. "Let's pull it together; Daisy can NOT see either of us in this state."

He smoothed his shirt back into his trousers and combed his fingers through her hair, smoothing that out as well. She left her blouse in the same subtly risqué openness as before, and then she pulled out some more lipstick to reapply. He pressed his lips gently to her temple and she smiled. Score one for Fitz.

*****  
After their brief closet-canoodling, they went back to the lab (individually of course) to continue work on the latest set of gauntlets for Daisy. While Lincoln, a medical student himself, insisted that the gauntlets were nothing but trouble, Daisy had told Simmons that she enjoyed the boost in power concentration, so Fitzsimmons had been working on a compromise set that didn't direct the power inwards as they had before. Lincoln had been supervising up until today, when he had decided that it was about time Daisy taught him hand-to-hand combat. Which almost guaranteed a blackout on the sparring gym's security feed while the two of them went at each other-- and not just in combat. Fitz shuddered, despite the earlier events of that afternoon. He had returned after a significant amount of soliloquy in front of the mirror to a picnic in the lab with prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches and chocolate strawberries. They sat on top of a plaid blanket on a vacant work table while everyone else was at lunch, not touching except perhaps a knee brush here or there. They were discussing the latest Scientific Journal, specifically an article about Howard Stark's earliest inventions. "The heated vest was a brilliant concept in theory," Simmons was saying, "but in practice that was a disaster waiting to happen. Agent Carter put up with far too much."

"Far too much for a woman?" Fitz replied, anticipating her reaction.

"Fitz! Agent Margaret Carter, founder of the very organization that EMPLOYS you, put up with more than you and I combined, even with all this alien tech in the mix." She tsked and went back to her sandwich, briefly licking her lips clean of the rogue pesto aioli. "And to be criticized for being heartbroken after losing her soulmate... It's devastating really. Now that she's in DC, I really hope that Steve and her at least tied up loose ends..."

He took a slow bite out of his sandwich and studied her, listening to her go on about her love for Peggy Carter and her SSR shenanigans. She caught him gazing at her, and he sprung out of his daze.

"What?" he asked. She laughed.

"I asked if you had any plans for tonight," she whispered into his ear, sneaking a glance at the security feed. 

He winked at her. " Oh, I have a few things planned... Some reading... And don't forget about the conference tonight." Her eyes bugged.

"That's tonight? Ugh, Fitz, it's Valentine's Day! What kind of scientists celebrate that?"

"They don't. Hence the conference. Besides-- we need to fix that problem with the gauntlets." Maybe he forgot to tell Simmons about the scheme. Or maybe he just liked surprises. And what better surprise than a romantic evening in the city during a work conference? "I'll make it up to you somehow," he whispered, handing her a chocolate strawberry. "Promise."


	3. Oxytocin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading this! I truly hoped you enjoy this last chapter, and I you give me a prompt I'd be more than happy to continue writing in this universe:) your comments have been awesome.
> 
> Also I picked out Jemmas dress here: http://www.modcloth.com/shop/dresses/scholars-soiree-dress-in-cloud?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=pdp_share

With about an hour to get ready, Simmons shrugged off her lab pay and walked down to her room. Opening it, she noticed a few obvious changes-- there was a vase of hydrangeas on her desk and a package on her neatly made bed. She recognized Fitz's handwriting on the exterior. Inside the box she found a note from Fitz:

Fancy dress required, so I thought that I'd surprise you early. Happy Valentine's Day!

The tissue paper revealed an elegant necklace and earring set, dainty rose gold with petite crystals. She gasped, pulling the jewelry out of the velvet box to put on immediately. Feeling tingly all over, she went to her closet for a suitable dress to wear it with...

*****

Fitz met her in the airplane hanger. He looked rather put together, with his tannish-grey suit, blue shirt, and white tie. He did have good taste, she admitted to herself despite that morning's earlier struggle. He smiled at her, eyeing the necklace peeking out from under her black coat. "We'll be driving into the city," he said, "and I can take your bag to the trunk." He tossed her bag into the car carefully but not like he was trying too hard. "I'll drive."

Without a complaint, Simmons picked her way over to the passenger side, hyper aware of the height of heel she had decided on. While Fitz was a good six inches taller than her, she needed a bit of height to-- to, to kiss him? Realizing that she unconsciously had maligned priorities, Simmons chuckled under her breath. "Fitz, this is a conference, not a meeting with the queen. Why so formal?"

Once inside the car, Fitz answered "you'll see." She snuggles into the center of the vehicle, thankful for the compact size versus the tank May usually drove. He put his arm around her and began the long road to downtown Boston. She kissed his cheek, closing her eyes for a nap while snuggling into his shoulder.

*****

She jolted awake with the lack of motion from the car. Blinking at their surroundings, she didn't question the location choice for a conference. Swanky hotel in a big city? Check and mate. Fitz grabbed their luggage and led her inside, grabbing the key card from the front desk. "Wait here," he said, kissing her cheek and walking off to the elevators. 

Grateful, she sat down at one of the desks and pulled out her notes for the conference, eyeing Fitz's brief notes that he had given to her upon request. He hadn't even given her a guest list for the event! She supposed that it had to be a sort of undercover sort of event, given that the information was so vague. Anyone who was anyone was probably under pseudonyms anyways, especially if they were connected to SHIELD. She looked up in time to see Fitz coming over with a huge smile on his face.

"You're that excited for this?" She commented. He laughed.

"Come on, let's get going." He guided her back to the car and started driving... All of one street. "Not too far away," he commented, walking around to open her door. 

"Fitz, this is a restaurant."

"I know," he said. "Happy Valentine's Day Jem." She looked over at him.

"Is there seriously no conference?"

"Yeah there's no conference."

"You lied to Coulson?"

He kissed her. "How else was I going to get you to myself for a whole night, on Valentine's Day, without the team suspecting?" In that moment she knew that he was still the same clever boy she fell in love with. They sat and ate and talked for hours, wine and dessert and even more wine passing through. She still was in awe-- a day of dread turning into this? After they closed the check (courtesy of SHIELD of course) they headed back to the hotel, Fitz driving with hopefully not too much alcohol in his system.

*****

Back at the hotel, Fitz took her to the top floor deluxe suite he had booked almost three months ago ("We've only been together a month Fitz!" "I couldn't imagine tonight to go any other way.") She nearly gasped at the vast display of pillows on the master bed-- enough to sleep a family of 5. Fitz just stood in the doorway, watching her take it all in. "I love you, Fitz," she said calmly. It was more matter of fact than anything else, which only added to the sincerity. He smiled at her, walking forward to catch her in his arms. He pressed his lips to her forehead, and then her lips, lingering mere millimeters away. 

"I love you Jemma," he whispered, going in for another kiss. She responded enthusiastically, without the constant vigilance of her coworkers in the next room. It was a weight off of her shoulders to be able to not worry about being caught. It was a burden that she hadn't realized she was carrying-- she didn't realize that she had so much subconscious stress built up. Being with Fitz just melted it away, and she supposed that this was the magic of love. 

*****

Fitz woke up the next morning to the sound of a teakettle. Simmons stood in the pseudo-kitchen of their suite wearing his shirt from last night, and next to her was a tray of breakfast treats he could only assumed she had ordered (unless she had actually gone outside in THAT.) She turned when she heard him store and brought over his tea. "A very good morning to you," he muttered, kissing her cheek. 

"And to you," she replied, climbing back under the covers. She snuggled up to him with her tea. 

"Would those treats be for us?"

"If you're brave enough to venture out to get them," she teased. He debated for a minute, soaking in the feeling of her next to him, and then scurried to and from the counter, toppling treats in hand. Simmons laughed. "I didn't think that you'd really choose food over me." 

"I prefer to have both, thank you very much," Fitz replied, setting them down on the side table. "Now where were we?" She stopped him.

"Wait-- I have something to say."

Fitz looked genuinely concerned. "I won't eat the food," he promised, "I didn't think you'd be angry!"

She smiled, "no it's not that. I think that we should tell the team about us." The sentence hung in the air.

"You really want to do that?" He asked. 

"After last night... I just don't want to hide anymore. I love you." He nodded and they kissed again, Fitz's breakfast long forgotten.


End file.
